Out of Proportion under Psycho Iguana
by PsychoIguana
Summary: Years after Amity Park turned their backs on him, Danny Phantom has returned. But he's so different that for Sam, everything is out of proportion. Can Danny forgive his town? Can they forgive themselves? And what's this about King Karsh? DxE
1. What Have We Done?

**Psycho Iguana**: Yes it's me, Batholith Fetish, in disguise!! As is evident, I have created a new FF account, and from here forth will use this one and only this one. Dig??

Alrighty then! Well, here's the first four chapters of Out of Proportion, same as always; they'll be posted all at once. I still need to get off my lazy butt and write chapter five already...

Once I'm finished with Out of Proportion, stay tuned for the sequel: Love's Eternal Flame! That story will focus on Danny and Ember -- how they met, how they fell in love, why they married, etc -- and is basically the big missing chunk of what happened to Danny between this chapter and the next. So be on the look out!

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Big whoop.

Full Summary: Years after Amity Park turned their backs on him, Danny Phantom returns. But he's changed so much, that for Sam, everything is out of proportion. Will Danny ever be able to forgive his town and move on? Will his town ever be able to forgive themselves? And what's this about King Karsh?

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Chapter One: What Have We Done?

Sam Manson sat at the edge of the lake, thrusting stones angrily into the dark water. Even though it was night time, her wet eyes glistened in the moonlight. She wasn't the only one who was depressed on this god forsaken day. Tucker, the Fentons, and many of the Ghost Boy's fans and admirers were mourning as well, at the loss of their loved one. No, don't worry, no one died, but he might as well have, because he sure as hell wasn't coming back, ever.

Danny Fenton, also known as Danny Phantom, had run away. Why, you ask? Well, let's rewind to an earlier part of the day...

"Yes! Flee, pitiful homo-sapiens! For I, Technus, master of all technology, shall blast your internal organs to oblivion! Muahaha!"

A very technic ghost, Technus, was floating around in Amity Park's sky, terrorizing the citizens and looking very pleased about it, which was evident in his highly irritating, villainous laugh. But wait, there's more!

"Hahaha! Citizens of Amity Park, prepare to perish under my cubical boxes of doom! Beware!"

A blue ghost in overalls, the Box Ghost, was laughing manically (and annoyingly) as well, shouting 'Beware!' at anyone who came near. Typical.

"Running for your lives? That's against the rules," a tall ghost in a white coat said with a smirk. Walker, no doubt.

"You need more meat on those bones!" the Lunch Lady screamed at a trembling boy. She then asked sweetly, "Cookie?" When the boy nodded his head, she screeched, "TOO BAD!"

These weren't the only ghosts terrorizing Amity Park today. Skulker, Desiree, Spectra, and Bertrand, among many, many others, also chose this day to wreak havoc upon the defenseless, pitiful town. It's hopeless. No one can save Amity Park now. Except...

Danny Phantom suddenly swooped down out of nowhere, throwing ecto beams and punches as he went, catching all the ghosts by surprise. But they quickly recovered, and focused their attention on the intruder.

"Give it up, whelp!" Skulker threatened, aiming a huge gun with blinking lights all over it at the ghost boy. "If you do, maybe I'll consider skinning you quickly."

"Ha! I wouldn't count on that," Danny said with a smirk, blasting Skulker to the ground with one of his ectoplasmic shots. Some people who were running away stopped to watch the fight in fascination, while others shook their fists angrily at Phantom. They still had issues over him. Suddenly, a huge screen appeared out of nowhere, and the face of none other than Vlad Masters, mayor of Amity Park, came into focus.

"Good evening citizens of Amity Park, ghosts, Maddie," he greeted, batting his eyes at the last name. Maddie Fenton, who was standing nearby with her husband, both prepared to fight, crossed her arms and glared. Vlad continued, "As mayor of Amity Park, it is my duty to keep my people safe, and the only way I can do that is to rid my town of these foul ghosts. Especially one in particular, whom you may know as...Danny Phantom." Everyone turned to stare at Danny, some glaring, others looking confused. Danny ignored them, and continued to look up at the Vlad screen with suspicious eyes.

"For nearly a year now, this ghost has disturbed Amity Park and its peace, not only destroying their harmless way of life, but attracting a number of multiple ghosts, each more dangerous than the last."

The ghosts, who had ceased action to stare up at the screen, stuck out their chests proudly at the consideration that they were 'dangerous'.

"Despite all my efforts, my incredible talents cannot seem to defeat this troublemaking ghost child," Vlad continued. "But my amazing brain skills has finally hatched a brilliant plan to rid us forever of this mongrel, and it seems the only way I can do that is to reveal his secret."

Danny --as well as Jazz, Sam, and Tucker, who were standing nearby-- gasped. Screen Vlad just smirked, and the screen fuzzed to show a recording of Phantom.

"Citizens of Amity Park, I give you Danny Phantom. Or should I say, Danny Fenton!"

In the recording, two blue rings appeared around Phantom's waist and separated, leaving none other than Danny Fenton in its place. The crowd gasped. Danny Phantom, who had been holding the Box Ghost by the scruff of his overalls the whole time, promptly dropped him and fell to the ground, gaping at the screen in horror and shock. Jazz, Tucker, and Sam froze. Slowly, Danny turned around to face his parents. A look of pure and utter shock was evident on their pale faces. They slowly turned to look at their half ghost son as well. Danny gulped.

"Uh...surprise?" he said awkwardly. Maddie and Jack gaped at him for a moment, before they burst out laughing.

"That's a good one Vlad!" Jack shouted to the screen. "How did you do it, movie editing?"

Vlad frowned at the 'insignificant fool', as he so enjoyed calling him.

"This is no trick, Jack; I am afraid your son is in fact Danny Phantom," said Vlad. "Actually, I'm not afraid, I'm glad. Yes, very glad indeed."

Danny turned back to his parents and sighed.

"He's right. Here, I think it's better if I show you. If I show all of you." And with that, he climbed up on a platform where everyone could see him, and transformed back into Danny Fenton. The grins were instantly wiped from Maddie and Jack's faces, and they realized with horror that there was no denying it; their son was a ghost.

"Gee Danny, your parents look like they've just seen a ghost!" Tucker joked, unable to resist the temptation to turn every situation into a corny one. "Haha, get it, ghost? Ah, I crack myself up."

But even his joke couldn't lighten up the mood, and Sam nudged him angrily in the ribs to make him aware of how serious the situation was. Tucker stopped laughing immediately. Maddie and Jack continued to stare at Danny, he staring back at them nervously, until Maddie cleared her throat.

"How...how did this happen?" she asked quietly.

"Ghost portal," Danny replied simply. "It's hard to explain, really. When I went inside, I got shocked, but I only half died...if that makes sense."

He blinked at them, before transforming back into Phantom.

"So...you accept me...right?" he asked hopefully. Maddie and Jack looked at each other. The silence lasted for eternity, before they slowly stepped back.

"No," they said quietly, slightly shaking their heads. Danny was taken back, not expecting this answer even though he knew the possibilty of it.

"W-what?" he stuttered in disbelief. All this time, he had been so sure they would accept him...

Jack and Maddie took another step back, and laid their hands on the guns at their side. Everyone tensed, even the ghosts.

"How can this be?" Jack wondered aloud. "How can this be our son, this...this freak!"

Danny looked as if he had been slapped. He glanced at Tucker and Sam helplessly. They made a move as if to go near him, but their parents held them back.

"Samantha, stay away from that freak," Mrs. Manson warned her, glaring up at Danny in disgust.

"That goes for you too, Tucker," Mrs. Foley agreed, glaring at Danny with the same look of disgust. But Jack and Maddie were more than repulsed. They glared at Danny in...hatred.

Trembling, Danny looked back at his friends for support, but they slowly turned their backs and let their parents hold them away. Oh, how they would regret that later.

Danny stared at their backs, not daring to believe, not _wanting_ to believe that they had just abandoned him. They weren't the only ones, however. Slowly, one by one, the crowd yelled 'freak' at Danny, until all of Amity Park was chanting the cruel name.

"Freak! Freak! Freak!" they screamed loudly. Danny staggered as he would under blows. Out of nowhere, a rock hit him on the head. Then another, and another, and...

Pretty soon, everyone was throwing things at him, from rocks to shoes to dirt. Someone even spat their gum on him.

"Let's kill him! Let's kill the ghost freak!" someone yelled. And soon after that everyone, even Maddie and Jack, were chanting the same lines and slowly walking dangerously near Phantom. Danny put up his hands as if to defend himself, but Jazz suddenly leapt upon the platform, holding out her arms in front of Danny protectively.

"Stop it!" she screamed at the crowd. "Stop it! He's not a freak, and he's not dangerous! He's just trying to protect you!" But when the citizens of Amity Park started to throw stones at her too, and the stones started to get bigger and heavier, she had no choice but to step down.

"Danny!" she called desperately from below the platform, "You have to go! They'll kill you!" But Danny could only stand there in shock, unable to believe what was happening. However, an anti-ghost shot that whizzed past his ear brought him back to reality and made him aware of the grave danger he was in. He slowly floated up and looked down at the crowd. They were still throwing stones, only this time, Maddie and Jack had joined in, and were now shooting blasts from their anti-ghost guns at him. He saw Tucker and Sam looking up at him helplessly, and holding back Jazz, who was struggling to break free from their grip and get to her brother. Even the ghosts looked too shocked to do anything, as they, like everyone else, had always expected the town, and especially his own parents, to accept the ghost child. He blinked down at them all, the shock of the situation being too huge to fully grasp. The town knew his secret...the town hated him...his parents knew his secret...they didn't accept him...Tucker and Sam turned their backs on him...and he was alone...

That hit him like a brick wall. He was alone. Alone. Finally realizing just what that word meant, Danny took off without a moment's hesitation, not knowing where he was going and not really caring, just as long as it was away from Amity Park. With a loud cackle at his success, the Vlad screen turned blank, and the ghosts couldn't even try to pursue the ghost boy. The crowd continued to roar and shout, angry that they couldn't kill him, but all in all glad he was gone. Sam ad Tucker released Jazz, and she fell to her knees and sobbed at the loss of her brother. Sam and Tucker blinked after the dot in the sky that was their friend.

"He...he's really gone?" Sam ventured to ask. Tucker gave a silent nod.

"And he's...not coming back?" she pushed. Another silent nod. Sam stared at the sky for a moment longer, before burying her face in her hands and breaking out into violent sobs.

"What have we done?!"

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**Psycho Iguana: **One down, three to go. Even though I'm posting these chapters in the same day, reviews would be nice; I hated leaving my 35 reviews behind. :(


	2. Danny Returns

Chapter Two: Surprise, Surprise

And so, it had been seven years since that fateful day, when Amity Park turned their backs on their hero. Life was much harder, now. Sure, there was still Valerie and the Fentons to take care of ghosts, but they weren't as good as Phantom was, and the amount of ghosts that plagued the town doubled, each more dangerous than ever. And now, Vlad had sent his Masters Blasters once again, and the citizens had to pay twice as much as before everytime they were saved. The pain of having Danny gone gradually lessened for Tucker, Sam, and Jazz, now in their twenties, but it was still there. The citizens of Amity Park were starting to wish their precious hero would come back, the ghosts were getting bored yet more malicious, and all the students who had known Danny felt bad for having been so careless to him, especially those like Dash and his gang. Maddie and Jack took it the hardest. After Danny left, and Jazz, Tucker, and Sam began to fully explain things, they were left almost-dead after the huge hurricane of guilt hit them. The realization that they had attacked their own son and sent him away with a heavy heart and a feeling of neglection swept them away like a tsunami. They stopped working on inventions, they lost their youthful appearance, and they moped around the house in a depressing state. At least Jazz had some comfort that she had stood up for her brother, but now Tucker and Sam would have to carry the guilt that they had turned their backs on their friend for as long as they lived. Everyone was hopelessly convinced that Danny Phantom would never return. Until he did.

It was another average ghost attack, nothing new. Oh, except of course that this time, Valerie and the Fentons were being held hostage by them, the Masters Blasters were being taken to the hospital on account of serious injuries, and all the ghost weapons anyone could find had been utterly destroyed. Which meant that no one was protecting the town. Which meant that Amity Park had to fend for themselves against these ghastly intruders. Which meant that, to put it simply, they were doomed.

The citizens ran around in circle, screaming their heads off that the end of the world had come at last. The unknown ghosts floated above the scattering crowd, cackling and blasting ecto-beams at them, as if they were no lower than ants. Sam and Tucker were running along with everyone else, trying to find any type of weapon they could get their hands on, all in vain. They, too, were getting a sense of hopelessness. It seemed all was lost.

"Hey, uglies, why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" Or was it?

The entire crowd literally stopped and turned in the direction of the voice. Sam and Tucker turned too, and they eyes nearly popped out of their heads. Sam's mouth opened and closed in disbelief, much like a fish would do, until she suddenly shrieked,

"DANNY?!"

The crowd gasped. All of Amity Park gasped. Even the Masters Blasters, who were watching what was happening on TV in the hospital, gasped. For indeed it was Danny. The crowd awkwardly stepped nearer to the figure that had shouted his command, hope slowly but surely coming back to them. Could this be? Had Danny Phantom finally returned?

Danny Phantom, however, took no notice of them. Instead, he, along with three other ghosts (who whizzed by so fast that no one could interpret who they were), flew at full speed towards the evil spirits. They formed into a well-practiced circle around the ghosts, and slowly circled around them, trapping them in while they showered them with ecto blasts. The ghosts shrieked in agony and slashed out at the group with their tentacles, whipping each of them down. It was now that they were on the ground that the crowd got a good look at them. Everyone recognized Danny, of course, who didn't look very different from when they last saw him except that he was taller and more muscular (he still had the same haircut that gave him away), but there was also a blonde guy in a biker outfit, a girl with short-cropped green hair in a red leather jacket and mini-skirt as well as black ankle-high boots and fish-net tights, and finally a pregnant blue-haired girl clad in black leather pants and boots but a comfortable-looking black cotton shirt that hid her stomach. An unknown green-haired little boy in a baseball attire peeked out worriedly at them, but remained next to the two shiny, black motorcycles that Danny Phantom and his gang had apparently arrived in.

Though the blow had hit them roughly, the four quickly shook it off and flew up towards the ghosts again, carefully avoiding their tentacles this time. The crowd stood in amazement as they watched their long lost hero and his new team beat the ghosts to a pulp. They could tell that Phantom and his team were getting tired, but Phantom suddenly shouted "Amy! Take 'em down!" to the blue haired girl, and the remaining three heroes created a distraction while 'Amy' sneaked behind the evil ghosts and out of nowhere pulled out a soup thermos. She opened it and sucked the monsters in. Once their shrieks ended, she quickly clamped the lid shut, smirking at the smoking thermos in glee. The team grinned at their success and walked forward to congratulate each other, when a sudden burst of cheers made them freeze.

Amity Park had errupted into cheers and whistles, clearly thankful that this ghost team had gotten rid of the villainous ghosts that had attacked them. Phantom instinctively pulled the pregnant blue-haired girl closer to him, and the green-haired girl and blonde guy looked around in confusion at the ecstatic crowd. But it was Sam who squeezed her way between the crowd and walked bravely to the person she thought she had lost forever.

"Danny?" she repeated meekly, as if she didn't believe he was really standing in front of her, solid flesh and blood. Danny blinked, and realization suddenly dawned upon his face.

"Sam?" The gothic girl nodded, glad that Danny had not forgotten her after all.

"Danny?" called another voice. They looked over to find that Maddie, Jack, Valerie, and Jazz were freed now that the ghosts were gone, and were walking cautiously but eagerly towards the one they thought was never to return. Danny frowned slightly at them, but as soon as he saw the orange-haired young woman that was his sister, his face broke into a smile for the first time.

"Jazz." He said her name tenderly, and she noticed this and ran forward without thinking, straight into Danny's arms. He 'oofed', but did not push her away. Everyone took that as a good sign, and silently breathed a sigh of relief. Sam reached forward to embrace him too once he let go of Jazz, but to her surprise, he backed away. She stopped, hurt and confused at his actions.

"Danny," she said, almost pitifully, "Don't...don't you remember me?"

For a moment, a ghost of a smile seemed to cross his face, but to their dismay, his next words were, "Yeah, I remember you. You're the one who turned her back on me."

Sam flinched, clearly hurt and guilty by what he said. It was then that Danny noticed his parents and Tucker, standing awkwardly on the sidelines.

"So," he said in an almost bored-sounding tone, nodding at them, "We meet again. Where are the guns, huh? Don't you want to destroy me?"

They all shrank at the coldness of his voice, but were all aware that Danny had every right to say those things. Maddie cleared her throat, and when she spoke, her voice quavered,

"Danny, what we did was wrong, and we know that. But...we forgive you."

Here, Danny snorted.

"_You_ forgive _me_? I have nothing to be sorry for."

Maddie ceased talking as soon as she realized she had said the wrong thing. Sam's eyes watered.

"Danny, _we're_ the ones who are sorry. Please, understand."

"Why should I?" he spat. "You didn't understand me."

"Just, please, forgive us!" Sam pleaded desperately. "You forgave Jazz!"

"Yeah, well, unlike you, Jazz tried to defend me. She stood up for me. But you? Of course not!"

Sam flinched at the harsh implication of his words, but just as she was about to speak, some brave soul from the crowd shouted, "Who are you?"

Danny smirked, and outstretched his arms to indicate his team.

"We are Team Independence. Why? 'Cause we don't need anyone other than each other. You should all remember me as Danny Phantom, but I go by just Phantom now. That," pointing to the blonde guy, "Is Johnny, or Johnny 13. That," pointing to the green haired girl, "Is Kitty. And this," holding the pregnant blue-haired girl closer to him, "Is my wife, Amy. Or, as you probably know her, Ember McLain."

Now, knowing that Johnny and Kitty, two of Danny's enemies, were on his team was shocking enough. But the fact that his wife was _Ember McLain_? Now that was just too much.

"You married Ember McLain?!" Sam schreeched in a sudden fury. "Ember McLain?! The one who tried to kill you, the one who almost wrecked our friendship and tried to take over the world, Ember McLain, the bitch?!"

After her heated rant, Sam suddenly found herself on the ground. It took her a while to process that Danny had pushed her. He now stood over her, glaring.

"Don't. You. DARE. Call. My. Wife. A. Bitch," he said through gritted teeth. Sam could only blink, frightened by his reaction.

"I've had enough of this place," Danny said angrily. "We're leaving. Youngblood," shouting to the green-haired kid in the baseball outfit that still stood next to the motorcycles, "Start up the bikes!"

Youngblood did as he was told, and the motorcycles started up. However, they died just as soon as they had started.

"Youngblood, I said start the bikes!" Danny repeated, apparently fed up.

"I can't!" Youngblood called back. "They broke down!"

"What do you mean, broke down?!" Danny asked angrily, marching over to the motorcycles along with Johnny. The two men checked the motorcycles inside and out, but the results weren't exactly pleasant. The vehicles had indeed broken down. Danny growled out furiously, and looked at his wife helplessly. "Now what do we do?"

Kitty looked at the blackening sky. "It's getting dark," she pointed out. "We need someplace to stay."

"But the bikes broke down," Danny repeated the obvious. "How are we going to get anywhere?"

"How should I know?" she cried indignantly. "You're the leader here, think of something!"

"You could stay with us," Jazz suddenly piped up, interrupting their conversation.

"Under the same roof as Maddie and Jack?" Danny asked her incredulously, as if it were the craziest thing he had ever heard. Maddie and Jack winced at the fact that Danny had used their first names, and not that nicely either. Jazz, however, was persistent.

"Sure," she urged. "At least until you get your bikes fixed." She pointed at the dark sky. "I also have a feeling it's going to rain." The air did have that kind of feeling. Danny opened his mouth to protest against Jazz's offer, but Ember pulled him aside and whispered something in his ear that made him reconsider. He looked back at his once family and sighed.

"Fine," he agreed, earning smiles from them, "But as soon as we get our bikes fixed, we're out of here. Period."

Maddie and Jack got in the Fenton RV after hooking up the motorcycles to a tow line on the back of their truck, and beckoned for Team Independence to enter the RV as well. Sam watched with scrutination as Kitty and Johnny clambered inside with Youngblood, and her gaze hardened as she watched Danny help Ember into the vehicle with great care and gentleness. He looked at the crowd, who gazed right back at him, before his eyes finally landed on Sam and Tucker. His gaze lingered on them for a moment, before he sighed and climbed in after Ember. The Fenton RV took off.

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**Psycho Iguana: **Got reviews?


	3. You're Too Late

Chapter Three: Danny's Story

The next morning, Sam went over to Fenton Works and knocked at the door. She was greeted by none other than Danny, just the person she wanted to see.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, a trace of anger still in his voice. She noticed he was still in his ghost form.

"I wanted to see you," she answered truthfully, ignoring his tone.

"Yeah? Well you're the last person I want to see," he retorted. Before he could close the door, however, Sam stuck her foot in.

"Please, Danny. I just want to talk."

"My name is Phantom now, and what's there to talk about? You said plenty when you turned your back on me."

Sam flinched again; he had to rub it in, didn't he? Not that she could exactly blame him, she probably would have been way more of a jerk if it had been he who turned his back on her when she needed him most. Still, she had to at least try. After seven years, she needed to know what happened to her friend.

"Please, _Phantom_," she pleaded, stressing the new name, "It's been seven years. I want to know what's happened to you."

"It's none of your business," he continued, trying to close the door, but Sam wasn't about to give up that easily. Besides, she had an excuse.

"I'm staying here for a week," she said smugly. Danny gave her a horror-struck look, but before he could utter a word of protest, she went on, "I have permission from my parents and yours. You can't kick me out, Danny. This isn't your house anymore."

She felt she was going a little too far, but it was still storming (a storm had kicked up the night before, as Jazz predicted) and she doubted that Danny and his gang were about to go anywhere in this weather. Hopefully the storm would last a week, so she could learn about Danny and what's happened all these years.

Danny eyed her angrily, outraged that his parents had allowed her to come, but had no choice but to let her in. After being greeted by the Fentons, Sam sat down on the couch, while Danny sat on a chair backwards, facing the goth girl. She sighed.

"So Danny, what happened?"

"I already told you, it's none of your business."

"Come on Danny, I haven't seen you in seven years, and I'm probably not ever going to see you after that. Can I at least have a good memory of you?"

Danny scowled, but Sam was feeling adventurous today, and dared to ask, "Why are you here in the first place?"

"I didn't want to come back, that's for sure," Danny muttered. Sam wanted to say something, but bit her tongue. She had gotten Danny to start talking, and didn't want to blow it. "Alright, you wanna know what happened? Are you that pathetically desperate?" Sam had an urge to glare at him, but instead nodded her head.

"Fine, if it'll get you off my back. Here's a basic summary of my life. After you guys abandoned me, I went to the ghost zone. I found a small island to live on for a while, but what do know, Skulker happened to live there too. He trapped me in and killed my human half, but I managed to escape before he could destroy my ghost half too. So you see, now I'm a full ghost."

That would explain why he was in ghost mode.

"After I escaped him, I wandered around for days, searching for a place to stay. Eventually, the lack of sleep, food, and water gained up on me, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in Ember's place. She took me in out of pity, but soon enough it turned to love. She changed, Sam. I had gained my strength back long ago, but I didn't need to go anywhere since I knew where I belonged: with Ember. I asked her to marry me, she accepted, and now look where we are. She's seven months pregnant, and we're very happy together. But then a new evil came to the Ghost Zone, called himself King Karsh or something like that. Well, all the ghosts really freaked out when they heard he was coming, from what I've heard, he's very dangerous and will not hesitate to kill anyone. We heard he was coming our way, so we made a run for it. I wanted to fight, of course, but I couldn't with Ember pregnant, and I wasn't going to send her out by herself, so we ran together. We picked up Johnny and Kitty--they're cool, and they've changed too, in fact, they never really were evil, just wild--along with Youngblood, who they pretty much adopted since Kitty can't get pregnant. And so that's basically how we became Team Independence."

Sam nodded, following the whole story with intense interest. Danny continued,

"Every place we stop, we clean up the ghosts and ask for somewhere to spend the night in return. It's been like this non-stop for nearly two months now. I think all of this is taking a toll on Ember, though," he admitted, his voice now changed to that of concern. "She's really exhausted. She has terrible morning sickness that can sometimes last all day, and she's just worn out. Your appetite is supposed to increase when you're pregnant, right? Well, it's the opposite for her, her appetite has decreased. And all this worry and stress...she's just really sick and tired. But," he smiled lovingly at the Ember-image in his mind, "She's the most wonderful woman I have ever met, and I feel really blessed to call her my wife."

Sam's eyes watered at this.

"Danny," she began quietly, sniffing, "I need to tell you this. I never imagined it to be this way, but...I've always loved you!"

With this, she burst out crying. Danny looked wearily at her. His face showed no remorse.

"Sam," he said, once she had calmed considerably, "I...I have a wife now. We're expecting a baby. I love Ember, and I'm never going to leave her. Sam, you're...you're too late."

_You're too late._ Sam burst out sobbing again at the realization of this, but what did she expect, really? That Danny would stay single forever? No, of course he'd get a wife, of course he'd forget about her! Danny seemed generally unaffected by her tears, however, and continued his story as if nothing was happening.

"Our next stop was Amity Park. I didn't want to come here, as you'd expect, but we had a job to do, and we needed a place to spend the night since we'd been driving for three days straight. And so, here we are, there's your story, happy?"

Without even waiting for an answer, he got up and left for upstairs, probably to go see Ember. Leaving Sam to her tears, she cried her heart out as the realization gripped her. She had lost the only person she ever loved. It was too late.

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**Psycho Iguana: **Reviews would be nice.


	4. Green Monster

Chapter Four: Green Monster

The next morning (the storm was still raging outside), Sam went down to breakfast to see Danny, Johnny, Kitty, Youngblood, and Ember there along with the Fentons. She glared at Ember and sat down at an empty seat, pouring herself a glass of orange juice angrily. It was during the night, after her tears had dried and she actually thought about Ember, that her sadness was instantly replaced with a huge sense of jealously. _She_ should have been married to Danny, _she_ should have been pregnant, _she _should have been part of a cool team, _she _should have been the one Danny worried over and felt blessed with, not that _witch_! Those were some of the things Sam thought. Apparently, she believed she deserved a future with Danny, but Ember got it instead, and Sam hated her for it.

_There she goes, strutting that pot belly, _she would sometimes comment angrily in her mind. _And she's just so tired, huh? Tough. She just a selfish, attention-grabbing witch who needs a serious reality check._

All these thoughts ran in a confused jumble through Sam's head, some satisfying, others unpleasant, making her agitated and unable to think properly. She growled silently as she clutched her glass of juice. Why did this have to happen? It wasn't supposed to be this way.

"So, the bikes will be ready in a week?" she barely heard Danny ask Jack. "Oh, yeah!" she distinctly recognized Jack's affirmative.

"It was very kind of you to take us in," Sam clearly heard Ember's voice say, and her brows knitted together. "Oh, it's no problem," Maddie insisted, but Sam could hardly make her out. It seemed the only voice she could hear clearly was Ember's, and that made her even angrier.

"Are you sure the bed was comfortable, Amy?" Danny pressed.

"Stop worrying, it was fine!" Ember assured him, sticking her tongue out at him playfully, "I fell asleep straight away. Those are some really nice smelling sheets you have, Mrs. Fenton."

"Why thank you," Maddie thanked her proudly, happy that someone had finally noticed the little comforts she would go the extra mile for to make everyone content. Ember really had changed...not that Sam would admit that, of course.

"Hey Danny, why do you call your wife Amy?" Jazz asked her brother curiously. Jazz was pretty much the only person Danny would speak comfortably with. He never forgot how she stood up for him, even when she was alone, and held a high respect for her because of it.

"Well, Emy didn't sound right, so we settled with Amy," Danny answered, putting his arm around Ember's shoulders. Sam's eye twitched. Unable to stand looking at them so happy together any longer, Sam's eyes wandered to the other team members seated at the table. Johnny's hair was still as greasy as ever, although he had grown it out and now held it back in a ponytail. He also had his left ear pierced, with a gold hoop earring as proof. Since his leather biker jacket was off, Sam could see the tattoo on his left arm. It was a black heart, with a white ribbon and the word Kitty inside tattooed as well.

Sam shifted her gaze to Kitty. Her hair was much shorter now, and was the springy type of curly. Sam guessed it wasn't naturally curly, since her hair had been straight yesterday, or maybe it was the other way around? Either way, she had to admit that she looked pretty anyways. She now had three sets of gold hoop earrings in her right ear, one in her left, an earring stud just next to her eye, and a bellybutton piercing. If Kitty had stuck her tongue out, Sam would have seen that her tongue was pierced too. Since Kitty's red leather jacket was also off, Sam could see that she had the exact same tattoo as Johnny in the exact same place, only her tattoo said 'Johnny' in the ribbon. Besides this, she had a rose tattooed on her hip, and a lizard tattooed on her right ankle. Yep, she had definetely turned into a biker chic.

Youngblood looked pretty much the same, as well as Danny, whose only difference was a taller and more muscular frame. His hair was cut the same way it had always been. But Ember had really changed. She was still slim but now had more curves, and her chest had really blossomed. Her skin was still as pale as ever, but she didn't wear anymore make-up. Now you could see that she had a faint yet attracting natural outline around her eyes, making her green eyes stand out even more. She continued to wear black, but it was now comfortable, not the tight clothes she used to dress up in. Her flaming blue hair was still the same length and held up in her signature ponytail.

After taking everyone in, Sam looked down at herself. She hadn't changed that much. Her clothes had gotten a lot more darker and gothic, and her hair was much longer, but she was sorry to say that her body pretty much stayed the same. Even though she had slimmed down and was taller, her chest remained undeveloped. She inwardly sighed. She didn't have anything to charm Danny with.

After breakfast, everyone went down to the lab to check things out. Sam tried to stay close to Danny, but he noticed and angrily pulled Ember inbetween them. Sam blinked innocently, but was inwardly cursing. She'd have to try another tactic. Maybe flirt with another guy, make Danny jealous? Where was Gregor when you needed him!

Team Independence looked around the basement/lab, inspecting every weapon with immense interest. Sam wondered if they were planning to steal any of them. Standing at a slight distance away, Sam scanned the area with bored eyes, but in reality she was carefully watching the gang's every move. Jack and Maddie were talking enthusiastically to the group, about who knows what, but no one seemed to be paying them any attention. Youngblood, being still a mere child, wanted to touch everything, but Kitty slapped his hands away. Johnny tried to touch an ecto-gun, but she slapped his hands away too.

The lab had been rearranged, but Danny still smiled, if only slightly, at the memories some old weapons brought back. Ember squeezed his hand in understanding, and he smiled warmly at her, making Sam's heart clench. Was she sure about this? Did she really want to break them apart just to get Danny for herself? They looked so happy and content together...and even if she did manage to tear them apart, Danny would probably hate her for that, and never want to be with her. Sam pondered over these second thoughts, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't stand the sight of them together.

"Cool place you got here," a voice suddenly sounded behind her, and Sam jumped. She spun around and realized that the voice belonged to Kitty. She had been so busy watching Danny and Ember that she hadn't noticed Kitty walk up behind her.

"Uh, thanks, but it's not mine."

"Oh, it isn't? I though you lived here," Kitty said. Sam's blood heated up again. She would live here if Danny would've married her, but no, that witch just had to come and steal him away.

"No, I live on the other block," Sam replied between clenched teeth.

"Oh."

They were silent for a few awkward moments, the atmosphere heavy and uncomfortable, until Kitty managed to strike up a conversation.

"I like your style. The goth look is so you."

"Really?" Sam inquired, surprised. Nobody had ever really said or even hinted that they liked her style, or at least liked that she wasn't afraid to be herself. Her parents hated the goth look, and mostly everyone else thought it was creepy. Not wanting to be rude, she complimented the ghost girl too. "I like your biker chic look. How many piercings do you have?"

Pretty soon they were talking about all sorts of things relating to the darker side of fashion: piercings, tattoos, leather--all things that appealed to Sam. They hadn't even noticed that the Fentons were done giving their little tour until they started up the steps. The two girls followed suit.

"And so, that's the basement," Jack said, closing the door and patting it lovingly. "Anything else you want to see?"

Danny looked up the stairs. "Is...is my room still like I left it?"

"Just like you left it sweetie," Maddie assured him. "We haven't touched anything."

Danny nodded, and slowly climbed up the stairs, Ember following him. Realizing that they should give Danny some privacy, Maddie went to kitchen to start lunch while Jack and Johnny went to work on the bikes, and Kitty went back to her guest room to see a movie Youngblood was begging her to watch with him. That left Sam standing there in the middle of the carpeted floor, staring up at the stairs Danny and Ember had just climbed. She was silently contemplating things in her mind. Should she follow them up there? She knew Danny would want to see his old room alone, in case the memories it provided overwhelmed him, but she was very curious to know what his reaction would be. Would he be sad? Happy? Angry? All of them? Sam, hating to be left out of things, decided that she needed to find out, and she reluctantly climbed upstairs. She reached the hallway, and a wave of memories rushed over her. She remembered how she, Danny, and Tucker would race up the stairs, usually with a rack of soda or a bag of chips or bowl of popcorn they snuck from the kitchen (much to Maddie's disapproval), and they would sit in a circle on the floor and just talk about nothing and everything.

Sam snapped out of her little flashback, and slowly continued her walk down the hallway. Her hand grabbed Danny's door handle, but didn't turn it. She could hear Danny and Ember's voices inside, but couldn't make out anything they were saying. The urge to know what they were talking about overtook her again, but she was still hesitant. Danny definetely would not want her there. So why was she here again? _Because you need to make sure that greedy witch doesn't keep Danny for herself,_ her mind reminded her confidently. She nodded. She still couldn't quite grasp that Danny and Ember were actually married; she viewed them more as boyfriend and girlfriend rather than husband and wife. That partly kept Sam thinking she still had a chance with Danny; that, and she still couldn't believe he would marry a ghost, much less Ember, that he knew for only seven years, over Sam, whom he had known for twice that long. Before she could stop herself, she turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Whatever conversation they were having ceased immediately, and Danny glared at the intruder.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. Sam chose not to answer, and instead picked up an old framed picture of Danny, Tucker, and herself, when they were still friends.

"Look how young we were," she commented, holding up the picture for Danny to see. He frowned but said nothing, wondering what she was trying to do.

"I've really missed you Danny," she continued, moving towards him and completely ignoring Ember. He stepped back when she got too close, and she stopped. "Did you miss me?"

"Not at all," he answered dryly. "Why would I miss you, when I have her?" he said, referring to Ember and reminding Sam of the ghost's presence. Sam gave her a dirty look.

"Don't look at her that way!" Danny snapped, and Sam turned her attention back to him.

"Oh, but Danny, can't you see? We're perfect for each other," Sam said, batting her eyelashes at him and feeling a lot like Paulina at the moment, much to her disgust.

"No, _Ember_ and I are perfect for each other," he corrected her stubbornly, crossing his arms. "I'd never betray her, and I know she would never betray me either, unlike _you_!"

"How do you know? How can you be so sure she won't leave you?" Sam asked boldly.

"Because I love him," Ember said suddenly, deciding that now was a good time to enter the argument. "And I wouldn't leave him for all the men in the world."

Danny gave her a thankful and loving glance, while Sam began to radiate angry heat.

"You're just saying that because you want to keep him away from me, you greedy witch!" Sam said sharply, beginning to yell.

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Danny warned her, beginning to yell too, "And what's this about her keeping me away from you? I do not love you Sam, at all! You're just jealous because there's someone out there that's way better for me than you'll ever be!"

Sam's fists clenched, and she grit her teeth so hard she though they would crack. She swung her fist at Ember, but Danny caught it reflexively and twisted it behind her back.

"Get out of my room!" he ordered, shoving her out the door.

"Oh, for God's sake Danny, stop acting like a little kid!" Sam shouted.

"Get out!"

Before Sam could do anything, he slammed the door in her face. Sam almost screamed. She kicked and pounded against the door in frustration, nearly knocking it off its hinges, but Danny had locked the door.

"What's all the fuss about?" asked Maddie, just coming up the stairs. She looked at Sam expectantly, but the goth girl brushed past her angrily. She stomped down the stairs and ran out of the house. She didn't bring an umbrella, and the rain soaked her instantly. Lighting flashed across the sky, thunder quickly following suit. The streets of Amity Park were pretty much deserted, as no one wanted to be out in the storm.

"Only an idiot would be outside in this weather," Sam commented sadly. "An idiot like me." She walked aimlessly around the streets, until she came to a statue of Danny Phantom that the town had made in his honor after he left. She sighed and sat down, staring up at it. Her skirt was getting muddy, but she could care less. Why did Danny love Ember and not her? _Because she's hypnotizing him,_ the evil side of her conscience said, but her good side disagreed.

_Sam, Danny doesn't love you anymore, _her good conscience said. _You have to accept that and move on. Look at yourself. Twenty one years old and you still don't have a boyfriend. Why? Because you still want Danny. But you need to understand that we can't always have what we want. It's hard, but sometimes you have to let go of the past, so you can have a future._

Sam nodded at herself (she's been doing that a lot lately, huh?), tears pricking her eyes. She still loved Danny, but he loved someone else now. There were millions of other men out there in the world, who said she had to be with Danny? Especially when someone already had him. Sure she wanted to be part of a cool team, sure she wanted to be pregnant, sure she wanted to be loved and cared for, but she could have that. It didn't have to be with Danny, she could find another man. A better man for herself.

She sighed and nodded at herself again, her maturity pointing her in the right direction, and walked back to the house. Ignoring Maddie's inquiries as to where she had gone, she walked back up to the room she was staying in, grabbing some dry clothes from her drawer. Just as she was about to go to the bathroom to change and dry off, however, Danny and Ember walked past her. She tried to catch Danny's eye, but he didn't even glare at her, he just ignored her. They walked briskly down the stairs. Sam growled and clenched her fists.

No matter how many times she told herself not to let it bother her, she simply could not stand the sight of them together.

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**Psycho Iguana: **I'll have Chapter Five up as soon as possible. Happy Thanksgiving!!


	5. Let Go

**Psycho Iguana: **I suggest you listen to "Let Go" by Red when reading this chapter (that's finally done, hooray!)

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Chapter Five: Let Go

Sam slept until 10:45. Rain practically smashed against her window as if begging to be let in, away from the icy temperature it was forced to endure outside. Thunder rumbled in the distance; the lightning remained hidden behind thick, eerily dark clouds. According to the weather reports, Amity Park was experiencing a freak storm that would last up to about a week. Sam rolled out of her warm bed with a yawn and began her usual morning activities: taking a shower, changing her clothes, brushing her hair, making her bed; you know, the works.

As Sam stumbled sleepily across the hall, she heard a faint yet beautiful sound. Someone was singing downstairs. Sam stopped to listen. It was a woman's voice. Definetely not Jazz; she didn't exactly have a voice to die for. Could it be Maddie? Sam eased down the stairs with quiet steps and peered around the smooth wooden railing curiously. She clutched the railing in a sudden fury when she realized that the beautiful voice belonged to Ember. She was sitting on the couch, her black dress spread out around her like a mysterious yet beckoning shadow, singing an unfamiliar song and playing an unfamiliar tune on her guitar, and her comrades as well as the Fentons were gathered around her, listening in awe. Sam bit the inside of her lip and walked past the hypnotized (not literally) families, straight to the kitchen without saying a word. They didn't notice her.

As Sam was getting her breakfast together, Jazz flaunted into the room with a dreamy sigh. Sam raised an eyebrow at her.

"Thinking about Tucker again?" she inquired knowingly. Over the years, sparks had errupted between Tucker and Jazz. It took a while, but Tucker finally admitted his love to the young woman, who confessed her mutual love to him in return. Everyone was nearly as anxious and excited as Jazz was for him to propose, especially since Jazz would soon be attending a distant university that had, after many years of rejection despite her towering-above-average IQ, finally accepted her.

"No," Jazz excused herself with a blush. "This time, it's Ember."

The smile that had previously shone on Sam's face was wiped off in an instant at the mention of the name, and replaced with a scowl cold enough to freeze flames and dark enough to block out the sun.

"Every since she came, everyone's changed," Jazz continued freely, not noticing Sam's glare. "She has a positive impact on everyone. She's very sweet. If I hadn't seen her before this, I never would have believed it if someone told me she'd given up evil. But, she has, believe it or not."

"I don't believe it," Sam muttered through clenched teeth, brushing past Jazz with a bagel and a glass of orange juice. Recently, she had been cutting back on what she considered fattening food in an attempt to lose some extra pounds. She had to look good if she wanted Danny back.

Jazz frowned at her in confusion and sat on the edge of breakfast table where Sam was seated on a wobbly chair, chewing on her meal angrily, as if the bagel was to be blamed for all her hard feelings.

"What's the matter with you?" Jazz inquired in a tone that suggested both curiosity and accusation. "Ever since Danny came back, you've changed, and not for the better. You're cold and distant. You won't talk to anyone. I don't understand, I thought you were glad Danny's here."

Sam suddenly slammed her half-eaten bagel on the table, her temper immediately taking control. A furious, red-hot anger clouded her mind like a thick steam, and she spoke without thinking, her mixed feelings transforming into words that tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"How can you not?!" she screamed, causing Jazz to jump back in alarm. "How can you not understand, how can you not _see _what is right in front of you?! I'm head over heels that Danny's here; what I can't stand is that Ember is here too! I mean, what makes her think she has any right to just come out of nowhere and steal away what belongs to _me_?! _I'm _supposed to be with Danny, not _her_!"

Jazz flinched at the harshness of her tone.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Sam mumbled miserably, tears pricking her troubled eyes. "If I could have a chance, just one more chance, I wouldn't have betrayed Danny." Tears escalated down her cheeks. "I'd give up everything if only I could get a second chance. If only..." Her voice trailed off and became muffled as she buried her face in the black sleeves of her sweater, the only thing that comforted her now. She slid off her chair and curled into a depressing ball under the table, murmuring incoherent words as she sobbed bitterly at the loss of it all.

Jazz stared at her; she had never seen Sam this vulnerable before. "Sam--" she began, reaching a reassuring hand towards her, but in an instant Sam was back on her feet, angry as ever, all traces of her previous misery utterly gone with no evidence that it was ever there.

"Don't 'Sam' me!" she schreeched. Jazz recoiled from her, eyes wide and confused. "Everyone keeps telling me to just get over it but I can't, I won't! Danny's mine and you all know it! I'll get him back somehow, and this time, I won't lose him again!"

Sam charged for the door, but Jazz grabbed her arm and swung her towards her.

"Sam, listen to me!" she ordered, her temper and voice beginning to rise as well. "You're in denial. I don't think you understand that Danny doesn't want you anymore." Sam tried to squirm away, but Jazz had a firm grip on her. "I know you're going through a rough time, and it hurts you to see the one person you love with another woman, but that doesn't mean you can just go and wreck their relationship! Danny's not the only guy in the world, you know."

"But he's the perfect one!" Sam retorted furiously.

"And he's taken," was Jazz's reply. She sighed. "I know it's painful, Sam, but...you have to let Danny go."

"Never," Sam growled, but Jazz shook her head.

"No Sam, listen to me, and listen good. If you really love Danny, you'll let him go. He's happy with Ember. Why would you want to ruin that? I'm not asking you to like Ember, just leave her alone. Danny needs her, and you wouldn't want to deprive Danny of his needs, would you?"

Sam didn't answer.

"Hard as it is, you're just going to have to accept that Danny doesn't love you anymore," Jazz continued in a quiet, comforting voice. "Trying to break them up will result in far more harm than good, if any. Not only will you have destroyed a happy relationship, but Danny would blame you for it and would not want to be with you, ever. To add to all that trouble, their unborn baby would cause many unecessary problems, too, if Danny and Ember were seperated. Think about it. Is that what you want?"

Sam looked at the floor. Jazz had let go of her halfway through the conversation, but Sam was too absorbed in her words to try and run away. One sentence screamed through her head like a siren, silent to the rest of the world, but defeaning to her. _"If you really love Danny, you'll let him go." _Sam blinked away more tears.

"I guess not," she muttered quietly. Jazz smiled sadly and touched her shoulder in a gentle manner.

"It will be hard, but you'll make it," she encouraged her. "And don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a man of your own soon enough." And with that, she walked away, leaving Sam alone to her thoughts.

Letting go _was _hard, but somehow, Sam managed to get through the rest of the day without glaring at Ember or winking at Danny. She even sat with the rest to listen to Ember sing, although Danny watched her restlessly out of the corner of his eye. The bumps in Sam's rocky road to recovery slowly began to smooth, little by little, but before dusk, a new problem had struck up.

"What do you mean you can't fix them?!" Danny yelled angrily at his father, who looked sheepish.

"Sorry Danny--"

"Phantom," Danny growled.

"Phantom," Jack corrected himself, "But these aren't ordinary motorcycles. They're highly advanced and loaded with power that our auto-scanners can't recognize, and we just don't have the kind of equipment needed to fix them as quickly as you'd want. With the tools we do have, your bikes probably won't be ready for at least another two weeks."

"Two weeks?!" Dannny schreeched. "We don't have time for that! We've stayed here too long already; King Karsh could be catching up to us! We need to get going, _now_."

"Maybe staying here a little longer isn't too bad," piped up a meek voice. It was Ember.

"What?"

"Yeah, maybe this is a good thing," she encouraged, looking anxiously at her husband for approval. "Think about it; where's the last place King Karsh would expect you to hide?"

"Vlad Master's mansion," Danny muttered.

"Besides that."

"Amity Park?"

"Exactly. He knows how much you hate it here, so it probably isn't on his Top Ten list of places to look for Team Independence."

Danny was silent for a moment, contemplating his wife's words. Everyone leaned forward in anticipation.

"Alright," he finally agreed, earning smiles all around him, "But I'm serious; as soon as the bikes are finished (whenever that will be), we're out of here. Got it?"

"You can count on us!" Jack reassured him cheerfully, dragging Maddie and Johnny 13 back into the basement to continue working on the motorcycles. Kitty looked after them anxiously, unintendedly tightening her hold on Youngblood's hand.

"Are you sure about this, Ember?" she pressed doubtfully. "I mean, what if King Karsh uses the same logic you're using? He might look here first, thinking we would come here to throw him off track."

"Kitty is right," Jazz agreed. "You guys are going to have to be careful."

Ember fingered her dress nervously. "I guess so," she said quietly, fear enveloping her in its cold embrace. Danny, sensing her worry, put an arm around her shoulders gently and guided her upstairs to their room. Sam watched them leave.

"This King Karsh," she began, fear starting to swallow her as well, "You don't think he'll come after us too...do you?"

Kitty and Jazz were silent.

"I don't know," Kitty finally admitted, her voice lowering to a frightened whisper. "I hope not."

Sam gulped. "Just how bad is this Karsh guy?"

Kitty looked at her for a moment, her eyes watering in memory of all the death and destruction she was witnesses in the Ghost Zone because of the king. She could still hear the terrified screams, see the king's storm raging above them, stretching for miles and destroying everything its fatal lightning hit; the king's evil, psychotic laughter rang in her ears and made her spine crawl. And the blood--oh god, the blood. It was everywhere. Horrifying green ectoplasm dripping heavily off of bridges, splattered against walls, mingling with the death-filled rivers, running down the roads and into the gutters. What was worse was that she knew she left even more terrible things behind.

Kitty closed her eyes in an attempt to shut out the disturbing images. "Very bad," was all she said. Scooping Youngblood up in her arms with a whispered "Bedtime" as an excuse, she retreated to her room. Sam eyed Jazz worriedly.

"Aw, don't worry, Sam," she said with a comforting smile. "We've defeated hundreds of other ghosts before, haven't we? I'm sure this guy's no different."

She smiled again and bounded upstairs to her room as well. Sam bit her lip and hesitated for a moment before following her, although slowly and certainly not as freely. Sure they had beaten many toughs ghosts before, but had they faced one as dangerous and bloodthirsty as King Karsh?

* * *

**Psycho Iguana: **Oh, this King Karsh dude is giving me the creeps! Hmm, I wonder what the next chapter has in store for us? Review if you wanna find out!!


	6. The Face in the Window

**Psycho Iguana: **Happy New Year!! Man, I just can't seem to be able to keep this constant! I don't know what to write! I have the ideas, I'm just not sure how to approach them. But I'll try. It's part of my New Year's Resolution to update my stories frequently. Thank you all for waiting so patiently! Hopefully my future chapters won't take so long. Although I do have a lot of schoolwork on my hands...

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Chapter Six: The Face in the Window

Ember was lying on her bed, looking out the window at the violent storm that gave no sign of ever letting up. Danny was lying next to her, sound asleep and snoring softly. It was past midnight already, but Ember couldn't sleep. She had too many worries on her mind.

Sam, for one thing. That girl was starting to scare her. She knew Sam was angry and jealous that she had lost Danny to Ember, but was she angry enough to try and kill her? Ember wasn't sure. She had tried to punch her last time. Luckily Danny had been there to protect her, but what if she and Sam are alone, and Sam takes the chance and tries--or worse, succeeds--to kill her? In her pregnant condition, Ember didn't think she could put up that well of a fight. Sam seemed pretty strong.

Danny was another worry. What if he did go back to Sam? He had promised Ember that nothing and no one would ever tear them apart, but don't all men say that and then turn their back on you? Ember sighed. She wished she could have more faith in Danny, but Sam was one cunning girl.

As if she didn't have enough on her plate already, she was also worried about her baby. Ember wasn't as healthy as she was supposed to be; she didn't want to eat, her morning sickness was unbearable, and her body felt weak and heavy. Would it affect the baby's health? And if so, how badly? Ember really wanted her baby to be okay. She tried to eat more, but she would just throw it up later. She turned her head slightly to look at Danny and sighed sympathetically. He worried so much about her. Ember only hoped she was a good enough wife for such an amazing, talented, unselfish man that was Danny.

Her biggest concern was King Karsh. She had seen what that monster could do, and it wasn't pretty. She had seen the destruction and chaos he had committed, the dead bodies lying everywhere in pools of sickeningly green blood. That was the thing with the King. Even though you were a ghost, he could kill you again, except you would never return to any kind of afterlife. You would simply cease to exist. Ember wasn't sure how he did it, but she had distinctly heard that he had some kind of enchanted sword that could slay human, ghost, and any other creature whose blood he chose to shed. She shivered just thinking about it.

She wished the King wasn't coming after them...

_"Ember, we have to go, _now_!" warned Danny, taking his wife by the hand and pulling her along with the screaming crowd._

_"What? Why?" she asked, frightened at her husband's darkened expression. He didn't look back at her, but instead shouted back, "Because King Karsh is coming!"_

_Ember froze as fear clawed at her heart, but Danny dragged her onward._

_"THERE HE IS!" screamed one soul in the crowd. "HE'S COMING!" screaming another. "LOOK OUT!" A huge shadow fell upon the crowd, and Danny flew Ember and himself out of the way just as a giant boulder smashed into the ground. Ember heard the sound of bones cracking and blood gushing out and felt sick, but did not dare look back. Several more boulders followed, each growing larger and coming faster. Flying debris scratched at Ember's skin and the dust made her cough. Her eyes watered from dust and fear._

_"Where are we going?!" she shouted between coughs._

_"To get Johnny and Kitty!" Danny shouted back. Again he flew her out of the way of an incoming boulder. But this boulder was different. It smashed into the ground, crumbled, and then exploded. Rocks shot everywhere. Ember cradled her stomach protectively as the rocks bruised her body. More boulders like that whizzed down upon the fleeing residents of the ghost zone, first a bullet in the sky, and then before you had a chance to even blink, it was a gigantic boulder that hit the ground with incredible force. A dark, devious laugh suddenly filled the air. Ember's blood ran cold and the crowd stopped, even Danny. The laugh was like no other; cold, demonic, and heartless._

_"Pitiful fools," came an even colder voice, and King Karsh appeared suddenly in the sky. Several ghosts screamed, and Ember clutched Danny's hand. "It's really quite amusing," the King continued, "And I've been bored lately, so let's have a little FUN!" At the signal, there was a huge explosion in the air, like fireworks, and rain fell from the sky. But it wasn't rain at all. It was molten hot acid. Everyone screamed and started running again, trying to get away from the burning rain. Ember tugged on Danny's arm, but to her surprise, he floated above the crowd and glared at the King._

_"You'll pay for this!" Danny screamed at him, the acid raining burning his eyes and causing tears to run down his cheeks. The King raised an eyebrow threateningly at him._

_"What are you doing?!" Ember hissed at Danny, tears from the acid running down her face as well, but he ignored her._

_"You destroyed our homes!" he continued, "And killed everyone, and ruined the land, and attacked us, and.." Danny shook his head. "You're gonna pay."_

_"Danny, get down here right now," Ember demanded through clenched teeth._

_"Ah, you must be the legendary Daniel Phantom," said King Karsh, once he had figured out who Danny was. "But on the contrary; _you_ will pay, young rebel. And your pathetic little wife, too," he added, eyeing Ember with a look that made her spine crawl. "No one defies the great King Karsh!"_

Ember snapped out of her flashback. She shut her eyes as she waited for her rapid breathing to slow. The fear gradually began to leave her and she sighed in exhaustion. Maybe now she could get to sleep. She looked over at the window; rain always used to calm her down. And that's when she saw it. A dark face in the window, and as she strained her eyes, she realized with horror that it was King Karsh! With his back against the window, he turned his head all the way around in a manner very much like in The Exorcist, grinning manically at her. Ember jumped back and screamed.

Danny jolted awake at once.

"Huh? What is it? What happened?" he mumbled, voice thick with sleep. He slowly became alert as his mind registered that Ember had screamed. She was now curled up with her back against the wall, trembling violently and staring at the window, pale as a sheet.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, touching her shoulder. She flinched and muttered something incoherent.

"What?" He carefully wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest, looking at her gaunt face with a worried expression. "Honey, what's the matter?"

"I...I s-saw him," Ember stammered.

"Who?" Danny pressed, reaching over to turn on the lamp. "Saw who?"

For a moment Ember didn't answer, but on Danny's nudge, answered slowly, "K-king...King Karsh." Danny stared at her, then leapt over to the window and looked out. Nothing was there.

"Are you sure?" he asked, frowning. Ember nodded, and he looked out the window again. Still nothing. Giving up, climbed back in bed, holding his wife's shaking hands. "There's nothing out there," he told her, but Ember shook her head. "No, no! I saw him! In the window! Go look again." Danny obeyed and went back to the window, this time opening it and sticking his head out to check. He closed it again with the same results.

"Nothing," he said, going intangible to get the water off his head.

"I know what I saw," Ember insisted, eyeing the window warily. Danny sat back down on the bed. "I looked over at the window and saw a shadow, and when a squinted at it, it was the King! He looked right at me and I screamed and then he disappeared."

Danny frowned at her. "You were dreaming," he said finally.

"It wasn't a dream!" Ember was growing angry now. "I'm telling you, I saw him!"

"Okay, okay," Danny said, still not believing her. "Tell you what, tomorrow morning, I'll go out there and look for any sign of him. How's that?"

"Alright," Ember agreed, unsure of the arrangement. Danny kissed her forehead and turned out the light, slipping back into peaceful dreams. Ember didn't sleep at all that night.

* * *

The next morning, Danny went outside straight after breakfast. Ember watched him worriedly from the window as he bent his body against the wind and rain that shoved him down, searching in vain for last night's supposed "intruder". Sam, thinking Ember must be up to something, went over to the window too. She spotted Danny immediately, nearly invisible in the rain's dark shroud.

"Where is he going?" she demanded angrily, glaring at the blue-haired girl. Ember, her lack of sleep causing her to grow irritated, glared back at Sam.

"What my husband does," she growled, "Is none of your business."

Sam blinked at her in shock but soon resumed her usual glare.

"Listen, you little witch," she began threateningly. "You may have everyone else fooled, but I know you're still evil. My advice to you: stay away from Danny."

"No," said Ember simply. Sam frowned in surprise.

"What?"

"I said no," Ember repeated. She looked right at Sam. "Let me say this once and for all. You do not control me. Danny is _my_ husband. This is not my house, but it isn't yours either, so don't act like you can tell me what to do." She backed Sam up against the kitchen counter, glaring at her with a newfound courage. "And if you dare hurt me or my baby, Danny will...well, you don't want to know. So here's _my_ advice to you: stay away from my husband!"

With a satisfied nod, Ember strided out of the kitchen, leaving Sam angry and bewildered.

* * *

"Well, I couldn't find anything," Danny said as he dried himself off. "It was probably just a dream." Ember leaned back against her bed, beginning to have a second doubt, but shook her head.

"No, I'm sure I saw him!" She tried to rub away the headache that was starting to take place. "I'm sure of it."

"Are you really?" Danny pushed. He was drying his hair with a towel since he didn't want to go intangible and get the carpet wet. Ember sighed and threw herself back on the bed, rubbing her eyes. "I don't know," she mumbled. "Part of me wants to believe it really was just a dream, but another part of me knows what I saw."

The creaking of the bed told her that Danny had sat down next to her. She removed her arm from where it was resting over her eyes, and stroked Danny's bare chest absent-mindedly. "Maybe we should leave."

"How did you sleep last night?" asked Danny suddenly.

"Terrible," Ember confessed, "But don't change the subject. I'm serious, Danny." She looked up at him. "I'm scared. I think we should leave. Find a better place to hide."

"Where, Ember?" Danny sighed in exhasperation. "There's nowhere to go! And you're due in two months. I'm not going to risk you or our baby just to run around in circles. As much as I hate it here, we should stay."

Ember looked at him, then sighed, defeated. "Maybe you're right," she admitted, closing her eyes. "Ngh, I can't think clearly. I'm too tired." Danny ran his fingers through her silky hair. Her mouth suddenly twitched into a smile.

"Something happened with Sam while you were out."

"What did she do?" asked Danny, tensing up.

"Not her, me." She smiled. "I told her off." She opened her eyes to see Danny staring down at her with a mixed expression of surprise and pride.

"What did you say?"

"I told her to leave us alone and to stop trying to win you over."

Danny raised his eyebrows. "How did she take it?"

Ember laughed lightly. "She looked like she had been slapped by a fish."

Danny grinned and lied down on the bed. Ember cuddled up against him.

"One of the many reasons I married you," he said, still grinning.

"Oh really?" Ember inquired playfully. "Any other reasons?"

"Yeah."

"Like what?"

Danny folded his arms behind his head and sighed dreamily.

"Your smile," he began. "Your beauty. Your compassion. Your perfection." He yawned, closing his eyes. Ember wrapped an arm around his chest and closed her eyes as well.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too."

* * *

"For crying out loud, Youngblood, hold still!" shouted Kitty as she struggled to get a shirt over her son's head. The shirt he had stained with ketchup at breakfast was laying on the floor, along with dozens of other clothes he had strewn across the room.

"Never!" cried Youngblood as he leapt, half naked, from Kitty's grasp and onto the dresser.

"Get off from there!" ordered Kitty. Youngblood shook his head rapidly. "Don't make me come up there!" she growled. He stuck his tongue out at her. She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "You're gonna make me come up there," she moaned, throwing the clean shirt aside and climbing up the dresser. Youngblood blew a raspberry and jumped onto the bed.

"A perfect landing for the great warrior!" Youngblood praised himself in his imaginary world. He started bouncing up and down on the soft matress.

"Quit jumping on the bed!" Kitty yelled, climbing down from atop the dresser. Youngblood hissed at her like a cat and ran, still half naked, out the door.

"Come back here!" shouted Kitty, grabbing the shirt and running after him. She found him in the kitchen, reaching for the cookie jar. Sneaking up behind him, she tickled him until he was defenseless, and threw the shirt over his head.

"Gotcha!" she shouted triumphantly, holding a squirming Youngblood by his wrist. "Another point for the victorious Miss Kitten!"

* * *

"Hey man, when d'you think these things are gonna be done?" Johnny 13 inquired from under the motorcycles. Jack frowned, scratching his balding head with a wrench.

"About a week and a half," he calculated. "I'm telling ya, these aren't ordinary bikes." He changed a screw. "Where did you get them anyways?"

"I made 'em," Johnny admitted with a shrug. Jack looked at him in fascination. "Bikes have been my life. And...my death."

Jack frowned. "How did you die?" he asked. "Not to be intruding, or anything," he added quickly. Johnny shrugged. "What's done is done. Nothing personal about it really, just our death. It happened so fast." He pulled himself out from under the motorcycles and wiped his sweaty brow with the oily rag in his hand. It left a black mark on his forehead, but he took no notice of it. "Me and Kitten were in a motorcycle accident. We were driving on the highway, and all of a sudden the truck in front of us just stopped. We slammed right into him. Died instantly." Jack looked down at the wrench in his hands. "Kitten don't like to talk about it though," Johnny continued. "Doesn't matter to me, but you probably shouldn't tell her I spilled about it." He pointed his screwdriver directly at Jack's chest. "Got it?" Jack nodded respectively and Johnny got back to work.

"One more thing," he said after a while.

"Shoot."

"What's it like to die?"

Johnny stopped working and studied him for a moment.

"It's like being knocked out," he finally answered. "Kinda like sleeping."

Jack didn't ask any more questions.

* * *

Jazz put the book she was reading down and sighed desolately at the never-ending rain. She sat up and looked around her pink room for something to do other than study. Her eyes caught her phone, and she smiled. She picked it up and dialed the number sacred to her, hoping she could get a signal in this storm. The phone rang a few times, and her heart jumped as she heard the familiar voice on the other line.

"Hey Tuck," she said, feeling shy all of a sudden.

_"Hey Jazz! What's up?"_

"Not much. It's so boring over here. I don't think this rain is ever going to stop."

_"Tell me about it. How's Danny and his gang?"_

"Fine, I suppose. We don't see much of Johnny and Kitty. I bet Danny can't wait until dad and Johnny finish the bikes."

_"Is he that miserable?"_

"Well, Sam's really been getting on his nerves."

_"Don't tell me she's acting all jealous."_

"She is."

_"Man, that girl is so stubborn! Has she done anything yet?"_

"As far as I know, bad-mouth Ember and flirt with Danny. Frankly, I'm getting sick of it."

_"I can imagine. Well, you want to get away from all that?"_

"How?"

_"Why don't you come over to my place?"_

"In this weather?"

_"Bring an umbrella."_

Jazz thought it over, twirling the phone chord in her fingers. She blushed at the thought of spending time with Tucker and nodded, then remembering he couldn't see her, said "Okay. I'll be right over."

She hung up and bounded downstairs, putting on a coat and grabbing an umbrella as she did so.

"Mom, I'm going to Tucker's!" she shouted to her mother, who was in the kitchen.

"In this weather? Well, alright dear, just be home for dinner!" she shouted back.

"Got it!" Jazz agreed, her heart beginning to thump in excitement as she prepared to turn the handle. Sam suddenly came down from the stairs.

"You going to Tucker's?" she asked, noticed how giddy Jazz looked. When she was answered with a nod, she walked over to Jazz and placed her hand on the handle. Jazz looked at her in confusion. Sam sighed.

"Jazz, don't make the same mistake I did," she said. "If you love Tucker, don't let him go. And don't ever betray him."

Jazz's eyes softened and she uttered a quiet "Okay," before opening her torquoise umbrella and walking out into the rain.

* * *

It was nighttime again. Ember was back in her bed, staring fearfully at the window. Only rain could be seen, but she still kept her guard up.

"Relax, Ember," said Danny, noticing her anxiety. He slipped a nightshirt over his head and closed the curtains, hiding the window from view. "Better?"

Ember sighed and leaned back against the pillows. "You can cover the window, but you can't hide what I saw," she muttered. Danny rolled his eyes and fluffed up her pillows before lying down next to her.

"Don't worry about it, we'll only be here for about two more weeks," Danny assured her. He switched off the lamp and slid under the covers.

"Danny, I think you should take this more seriously," advised Ember, trying to make out her husband's face in the darkness. "You know what the King is capable of! We can't take any chances."

Danny didn't answer. Ember closed her eyes as if to block out defeat and turned on her side.

"Well, good night."

"Good night."

* * *

**Psycho Iguana: **A crappy way to end the chapter, I know, but I was so determined to get this posted on the first of 2009! So, now we've seen a little bit of what everyone else is doing, as well as Ember's fears, the seriousness of King Karsh, why the King is after them in the first place (man, every time I saw "the King", I think of Elvis!), how Johnny and Kitty died, and more. You'll notice I focused more on Danny and Ember; I've been focusing on Sam a lot these past chapters. But what would you rather read more of, Danny and Ember, Sam, or both? Tell me in your...reviews!! Happy New Year!!


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